The invention relates to a process and to a device for automatic provision of piece-type, optionally commissioned, goods into or onto individual transport units such as cartons, pallets or such like.
Particularly in the mail-order business it is necessary to commission piece-type goodsxe2x80x94ie, to assemble them according to number and type from a stock of an extremely wide range of goods in accordance with a specified order, to fill them into a dispatch carton and to dispatch them to the client. Fundamentally similar operations are to be observed when piece-type goods are deposited onto dispatch pallets or when they are mounted, such as by being suspended, onto transport units similar to clothes-rails. So long as goods of a single type are to be processed exclusively, the operations are relatively simple. However, as mentioned, goods of highly variable type and size have to be processed in the mail-order business. In accordance with the state of the art there have been attempts to automate, to a very large extent, the selection of the individual goods in question and the assembling thereof into a consignment corresponding to a specified order. Embodiments and examples of such processes and devices for commissioning individual articles are described, for example, in EP 0 457 158 B1, EP 0 183 074 A1, DE 34 12 025 A1, in the periodical xe2x80x9cIndustrie-Anzeigerxe2x80x9d Volume 95, No. 40, May 11, 1973, Leinfelden-Echterdingen (DE), pp 824-826; W Fxc3xcrdenschess: xe2x80x9cMxc3x6oglichkeiten automatischer Kommissioniersystemexe2x80x9d and in the periodical xe2x80x9cFxc3x6rdern und Hebenxe2x80x9d, Volume 19, 1969, Number 12, pp 727-731, K Heptner, xe2x80x9cMethoden der Warenverteilung und Auftragszusammenstellung in den USAxe2x80x9d.
All these printed publications cited from the state of the art are concerned with the assembly of a consignment with as little effort as possible in terms of storage area and with an error-rate that is as low as possible. According to the state of the art the assembled consignment is passed in a heap onto an output conveyor and optionally introduced into an intermediate container. EP 0 457 158 B1 mentions in passing that, instead of an intermediate container, use may also be made of a dispatch carton, since the data pertaining to a consignment are known. However, the operations between assembly of a consignment and provision for final dispatch are not simply structured; on the contrary, errors may occur which not only block this area but can influence the entire plant, that is to say, also the assembly of the consignment. It is therefore desirable to automate the operations between assembly of a consignment and release to the dispatch department as far as possible and to take all necessary measures into account in the process. It is furthermore desirable to accelerate the speed of these operations as much as possible.
At the same time the needs of the mail-order business are to be taken into account. The assembled consignment is to be introduced into an appropriate container such as a dispatch carton or is to be placed onto an appropriate pallet or suspended on an appropriate transport unit such as an arrangement similar to a clothes-rail. After this packing operation a check is to be carried out, which conventionally is a visual check. Furthermore, dispatch documents are to be made available and added. Frequently a complementing operation is necessary, which ordinarily consists in adding filling or supporting material, free gifts and/or advertising leaflets. After a sealing step which may possibly be necessary, the dispatch addresses are applied and the data necessary for dispatch are ascertained and notedxe2x80x94for instance, weight, format or the likexe2x80x94in order also to be able to establish the costs of dispatch, whereby a distinction is to be made depending on whether the recipient or the sender has to bear the costs of dispatch, whether the recipient has to pay not only the costs of dispatch but also the total costs at the same time (for instance, in the case of a cash-on-delivery shipment) and such like.
It is therefore the object of the invention to design a process and a device of the type specified in the introduction in such a way that, with a very largely automated and rapid sequence of operations, there is no increased risk of error.
These and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention are achieved by the process and the apparatus disclosed and described herein. Various modifications and alternative constructions are also disclosed that fall within the scope of the invention.